Court Examines Whether Vegan Diet Killed Baby

A vegan mother and father were up before a court Tuesday in Amiens, in northern France, accused of "neglect or food deprivation" leading to the death of their 11-month-old baby daughter.

Sergine and Joel Le Moaligou only fed their tiny daughter, Louise, with the 37-year-old mother's milk at their home in Saint-Maulvis, a small village 90 miles north of Paris. She died in March 2008, weighing just under 13 pounds and suffering from pneumonia and a vitamin deficiency. A doctor called to the family's rundown house refused to issue a burial permit.

Louise's parents became vegans after watching a television program about how cattle were slaughtered for food. They were also suspicious of traditional medicine and initially treated the baby's bronchitis with poultices of cabbage, mustard oil and camphor. Louise was never bathed but cleaned with earth and clay, local newspaper the Courrier Picard reported.

The parents, who also have a 13-year-old daughter, face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The case was due to finish Friday.